


An Old Familiar Song

by okayokayigive



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-13
Updated: 2013-08-13
Packaged: 2017-12-23 09:03:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/924499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okayokayigive/pseuds/okayokayigive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since she ran away with a battered old soldier in a blue box, Rose’s life has been a series of moments - some exciting, some heartbreaking, some wonderful. Three moments in Rose’s life tied together by an old familiar song.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Old Familiar Song

**Author's Note:**

> From the song shuffle challenge on Tumblr. The character prompt (from jaxin88) was Rose; the song that shuffle chose was "It's Too Late" by Carole King. 
> 
> Disclaimers:  
> I don't own Doctor Who. Clearly.

_Christmas Day, 2005_

Nothing says “home” like your mum singing along to some bad old song after she’s had a few too many. As Jackie’s voice warbles down the hall, Rose ponders the stranger tucked into her bed. Is it too late? Has she lost the stars and the man who showed them to her?

–

_Post-Pre-Revolutionary France_

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid girl. Inexperience. That’s what it was - pure inexperience. She was too young, she told herself, swanning after a man who never promised, never reciprocated, never said anything beyond what she misinterpreted from his eyes.

Sarah Jane was wrong.

Rose puts on her headphones, finds a song that reminds her of home, and cries.

–

_Dårlig Ulv Stranden (the first time)_

“The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse.”

“So?”

It’s like watching a movie. A movie of someone else’s life. The sand under her feet, the frigid wind in her face - that’s all happening to someone else.

Because Rose Tyler is no nineteen year old shop girl. Not anymore. She’s learned how to stand up. She’s learned how to live a better life. How to be all she can be. (Wait - that’s the US Army.) And in this moment, her problem-solving, puzzle-cracking skills are rising to the surface. Grief can come later, when she’s back in his arms. Now it’s time to plan.

Step one: get back to London. Back to Torchwood. Back to technology and science so advanced it seems like magic. Back to the pull that comes from being Pete Tyler’s daughter.

Step two: remember. The adventures. The wonder. The pain. The hurt. The sparks. The love. Memories will fuel her. Push her. Get her going to the places she needs to be.

Because you need a lot of things to get across the universe. Warp drive, wormhole refractors…but the thing you need most of all is a hand to hold.

Even if that hand is a memory trapped in a parallel world.

Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth, flags down a passing car, loads in her family, and flicks on the radio. The artist may be different in this universe, but the message is the same. 

And now she knows. It’s never too late.


End file.
